When Your Heart is Humbled through Pain

The main culprit for cancer,
arteriosclerosis, diabetes, stoke, myocardial infarction, hepatitis, atopy,
Parkinson’s, etc. and
all sorts of diseases as well as aging is due to the excess production of
reactive oxygen species. Polyphenol is the
antioxidant that is able to get rid of the harmful oxygen called “body
pollution” and is created inside plants. When harmful conditions, such as the
wind or strong sunlight, come to animals they are able to avoid it as they
move, however, plants must endure all the detrimental circumstances and
therefore are able to make protective agents like polyphenol.

Also, fruits and vegetables grown inside
greenhouses may be larger in size and better to look at, but the amount of
polyphenol produced is much smaller than fruits and vegetables grown in the
wild. As expected, fruits that are grown in orchards, finely wrapped in white
sacks, contain very little
polyphenol. The area with the highest concentration of polyphenol is known to
be in the skin of the fruits. In others words, the more harsh the environment
the more polyphenol is produced.

The
Quality Material of Designer Violins, “Kneeling Trees”

Across the vast distance of 4,800 km from
West Canada to the United States is
the well-known rugged terrain of the
Rocky Mountains. The elevation of 3,000 meters above sea level is the highest
altitude limit where plants
can grow. That is, ordinary trees cannot survive in the uplands above 3,000
meters due to the hurricane-like winds and fierce cold.

However, even there, there
are trees that maintain life. Interestingly, the only trees existing above the timberline are called,
“kneeling trees.” Because the winds are so violent, the trees are not able to
grow vertically, but rather they grow horizontally in a stooped manner making
it look like they are kneeling down. So, they thrive against the fierce cold
and wind to maintain their life. Yet, violins that produce the best resonance
in the world are violins made from these “kneeling trees.” The quality of the
wood is more firm and durable than any other wood.

Indians in
the Indian Reservations

A long time ago, the majority of Indian men
were brave warriors. From their childhood they learn to ride horses, hunt,
fish, and fight in battles. After Columbus discovered America, the Indians
fought back bravely when the Europeans took over their territories. Although
the guns, cannons and other weapons the white men had were no match for the
Indians, their courage was more than enough to be a threat to white men. At
that time, the American government couldn’t terminate the entire Indian
population due to moral issues, but also couldn’t just leave their biggest
threat alone. As a result, the troubled government set up Indian reservations
and implemented a policy to give government aid to the Indians living in those
regions.

After that a considerable number of Indians
came to live in the Indian reservations and received aid from the government,
however, later on the majority of men who lost their courage became addicted to
drugs and alcohol. The unemployment rate on
the reservations is six times higher than the average unemployment rate of the
United States.

Pain, the
Medicine for a Mature Heart

“Everybody
experiences failure in their lives. One might get disqualified for a job
interview, lose a best friend, get an illness, or go terribly wrong with
something. All of those failures
bring pain in our hearts. That pain is a good medicine. Although it might be
difficult to endure that pain, it will teach us a great lesson and redirect our
lives towards the right path. Once one’s heart is humbled through pain, one
will be more prone to listening to others and be able to freely talk about
one’s heart. That person will surely live a blessed life. If might be good if
one can avoid that path of failure, however, human beings are destined to
experience pain whether it be a small or big failure if they go down the path of believing in
themselves. One must properly learn from the pain received and turn away from
the life of arrogance. If one’s arrogance persists, even after going through
the pain, that person can only be a foolish person.” (Pastor Ock Soo Park,
Tomorrow Column, July 2011, Vol. 8)

Turning Point of Happiness

Mind lecture expert, Pastor Ock Soo Park,
talks about the turning point from the life of misfortune to the life of
happiness through the story of the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15. He often advises saying that is not about the
success and victory in life, but rather about the pain one experiences as a
result of failure from a living a life by one’s own will.

“The
prodigal son always lived a life thinking he was right, therefore he couldn’t
open his heart toward his father who thought otherwise. Then, wanting to live a
life as he pleased, he wasted all of the property handed down to him by his
father and experienced great
pain and misery. Upon realizing his
foolishness, he returned to his father’s house in his dreadful image, and
discovered for the first time the heart of his father who accepted him with
open arms. It became the first time where the heart of the father flowed into
the heart of the son. From then on, the joy, peace, and love also entered the heart of the son.
Naturally the prodigal son had the heart to consider other people and the heart
to sacrifice which changed
his life so beautifully.”